The biographer of Katharine Hepburn here turns to another Hollywood icon and the last great star of the old studio system; indeed, as William Mann portrays her, Elizabeth Taylor married her first husband Nicky Hilton to help Louis B. Mayer publicize her film Father of the Bride. Yet Taylor also rebelled against her star handlers, riveting the country with her unapologetic affairs with Eddie Fisher and Richard Burton and, says Mann, helping to usher in the sexual revolution. Mann focuses on Taylor's heyday through the 1950s and 60s, depicting a woman who brilliantly manipulated her star status while also producing singular artistic performances, and who behind the scenes proved to be a loyal champion of those she loved.

"Was Elizabeth Taylor the greatest product of the Hollywood star machine or its greatest victim? Or was she, perhaps, its inventor? ... Mann's smart, engaging, clear-eyed case study of Taylor's unique life in the spotlight locates the 'real' person somewhere between her private life and her public image. It's a fresh, unique and wholly successful approach to a fascinating story."óMark Harris